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Sunday, 15 January 2012

Vrrrrrrmmm

That's the sound this month is making as it whizzes by. It's already the middle of January! Wow, this year is speeding along already. Gone is the general falumphing of the holiday season. The usual daily routines have settled back in to place, like my weekly trek to the library cafe on Sundays to get together with my fellow knitters and have a good ol' yak and a laugh. Much excited exclaiming over new projects, or big ongoing projects, or recently completed projects. Such fun!

I finished my Derry Raglan and Cowl, and decided after trying it on that the sweater is definitely a go, but the cowl... not so much. Perhaps the cowl would benefit from some blocking, but at this stage I think it'll just stay as a possible accessory if it gets really cold (which is unlikely up here). Still, I'm more than happy with the sweater:

Just so you know what I'm talking about re the cowl, here's a pic with it:

Meh. Looks better in the book, on the professional model (hehe, don't they all?) This photo at least shows the fittedness (is that a word?) of the sweater - my gauge was about 17.5 stitches to the inch, compared to the 16 recommended by the pattern. I was knitting the 34" bust size, and my bust measurement is 35". With this combination of factors, I ended up with a nicely fitted sweater, as opposed to the much floppier version suggested by the pattern in the book. I'm very happy with the result. I also knit the sweater about an 1.5" longer than the pattern recommendation, and the sleeves I just knit until I decided they were long enough (I like being able to tuck my hands into them when its cold). To take into account the difference in gauge, I omitted four decreases for the sleeves, so they didn't end up too tight. Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly. The yarn is so lovely and soft. I'm wearing it as I type this, with nothing but a bra on underneath (probably TMI but oh well) and its not at all scratchy - very soft and smooshy-feeling.

I only used eight balls of yarn for both the sweater and cowl - one less than I thought I'd need. I was contemplating what to do with the two leftover balls, and by a happy coincidence, I received an email this morning from a knitter in the US who is making this exact same sweater with the exact same yarn and has found herself short by two balls. Hurrah! They shall be winging their way to her first thing tomorrow. Glad I could help out a fellow crafter :-)

I finished the cowl on Friday, and that night cast on for a pair of these socks for my sister, in the leftover Vintage Purls Max yarn that I knit my blue socks out of last year.

I'm not sure how long this will continue, but I have found myself so far this year (yes, a whole two weeks) knitting only one project at a time. Only one project on the needles, finished, before starting another. It seems a little odd. Perhaps I should just cast something else on for the hell of it?

In contrast, I have found myself reading more than one book at a time - at the moment I'm reading an Aurora Teagarden short story from the first omnibus - a book I bought my mother last year, and I started a Rizzoli & Isles novel on my Kindle while at the cafe this morning, waiting for other knitters to join me. The other day I had a vampire romance on my iPhone and a crime mystery on my Kindle. Too many options? I don't know. Either way I'm enjoying reading a lot at the moment, and am absolutely loving being able to read things so many different ways. Much as I love a good old-fashioned book (and I always will) these new-fangled devices are incredibly handy and transportable.

And oh, I just have to give you a quick update on the herby-herbs:

Aren't they looking great? Soon they'll start looking like actual plants, and not just weeds! Hopefully.

2 comments:

You've done an amazing job on your Derry. It's funny that I was wanting to do it (but then the yarn got claimed for another project...) and I'm still wanting to do it, but it just hasn't happened yet! And here you are, with a completed, awesome pullover!